The Apostles, More Or Less
by Mio-san
Summary: The Apostles are a ruthless group of aliens, come to annihilate the human race. But in reality, they're just like us... more or less. MEFExLLWO, MZMAxSZZU. Warning! Slightly OOC, AU.
1. The Benefits of Being Bilingual

"_MAZUMA!_"

The yell shattered the empty room. Shizu, leaning comfortably against the red-haired alien, looked up from her book with an amused smile. "I believe that's your cue?"

Shizu's boyfriend stood up from the couch as Mii stormed into the room, practically steaming. "Oh, realmente has hecho esta vez, cuando le ponga las manos encima vas a desear que nunca fueron—"

"Whoa, slow down!" Mazuma cried, as Nafhe poked her head around the doorway to check out the commotion. "I don't speak Spanish!"

Mii took a deep breath. "My _pictures _are _gone!_"

"What pictures?"

"_The _pictures!" Mii's hands were trembling, and her knuckles had turned completely white. "Yo diría que usted sabe! You went with us, after all!"

Mazuma looked helplessly at Shizu, who raised her eyebrows at him and smirked. "I swear to the gods, Mii, I have no idea what you're talking ab—"

"_No pretendo ser inocente!_" shrieked Mii. She snapped her fingers, and a camera materialized in her palm, a typical digital camera with a flower sticker plastered over its lens. "I _know _you deleted them!"

"I _told _you," said Mazuma, frustrated. "I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING AB—"

"Ahem."

Nafhe waved from behind the doorway, her mechanical ears twitching. "Might Mii be referring to the spring break vacation photographer's extravaganza?"

"What?" chorused Shizu and Mazuma in unison. Mii crossed her arms over her chest, scowling.

Nafhe was clearly proud of knowing something her superiors didn't. "The spring break vacation photographer's extravaganza. When we went to Paris."

Silence.

"Mazuma, Lirio, Mii and I?"

Still silence.

"Lirio got us a place at the Louvre?"

More silence.

"We decimated the Eiffel Tower?"

A collective _oh _chorused through the room. Nafhe nodded, satisfied. "Lirio and Mii were all over how Paris was the city of _love, _and all that junk, so they had me take a million katillion pictures on that little digital camera. I told you you should have uploaded it onto the computer," she added to Mii with a tiny smirk.

"_Katillion _isn't a word," stage-whispered Shizu.

"El punto es," Mii interjected, "those pictures were very important to me! And now they're _gone, thanks to_ _Mazuma!_"

"Okay," Shizu broke in. "My boyfriend can definitely show signs of idiocy, but he wouldn't do something like this. Not to Mii."

"Right," Mazuma nodded confidently, then a few moments later, "Hey!"

Shizu shrugged and adjusted her glasses.

"Where's Lirio?" Nafhe asked. "He can sort this out."

Mii sighed. "Mi amor is out running some errands. Which gives me just enough time to do this!" She whipped out her axe and brought the flat of the blade down onto Mazuma's head, sending him sprawling onto the floor.

"_Ouch!_" protested Mazuma.

Mii sniffed. "Eso es lo que hay."

"Zaha?" Nafhe suggested weakly.

Shizu shook her head. "Errands with Lirio. Apparently he trusts me to chaperone you." And with that said, the "chaperone" went back to her book.

"Bad choice," Mazuma noted, and then, "Oi! Mii! Quit it!"

Mii wrenched her axe out of the ground and sliced at Mazuma once more. "_Get—me—back—those—pictures!_"

"Never!" the alien yelped, then rolled out of the way of Mii's path of destruction. Around and around they went, chasing each other around the room, until even Nafhe was becoming dizzy. "I _didn't take them, _Mii!"

"Mentiroso!" Mii yelled. "Mentiroso! Mentiroso! Mentiroso! _Get them back!_"

"Kali?" said Nafhe, barely convincing herself now.

Shizu shook her head. "Training at Aokigahara."

"Figures," muttered Nafhe. She put two fingers in her mouth and whistled. "Chibi!"

One of her bunny droids whisked up to her and hummed questioningly, awaiting its mistress's orders, to which their mistress turned to the meganekko on the couch. Shizu just shrugged.

"Break 'em up," she said.

Nafhe gave her droid the signal and it whirred, processing the information, then swooped towards Mii and Mazuma, planting itself between them. Mii's axe swished a few inches short of the chibi's head, and it buzzed angrily, static crackling between its ears. Both Mazuma and the lavender-haired girl jumped back.

"Cuál es el significado de esto?!" Mii demanded angrily. "Shizu?!"

Shizu looked up, shrugged for the third time in a row, and tucked a pillow next to her for support.

"Will you guys stop fighting?!" Nafhe groaned. "It's boring, and it's bad for your auras!"

"What?" they all said.

"Never mind," said Nafhe, rolling her eyes.

Mii glared at her, annoyed at being interrupted, and raised her axe again. Mazuma flinched, retreating behind the couch. "Are you crazy?!"

"I'll _neblade _you!" she growled, slicing a pillow cushion in half. The chibi floated next to Nafhe and hummed disapprovingly in the midst of an explosion of feathers.

"You're not serious," Mazuma pleaded, and ducked as Mii attempted to cut him in half once more. "Shizu! A little help, please!"

"Oh, _fine._" With a sigh, Shizu put down her book and strode towards them. Suddenly, the room temperature dropped twenty degrees.

In silent agreement, both Mii and Mazuma stepped backwards.

And then, the door beeped. Lirio walked into the room, followed by Zaha. Both of them had bags in their fists. "Hello, everyone," the white-haired Apostle began, and then stopped in his tracks.

The other Apostles froze.

Zaha stepped forward, his arms crossed over his chest. "What is going on here?"

"We can explain," Nafhe protested, referring to the sliced-open pillow, Mii's axe, and Shizu's bored-but-deadly expression.

The oldest Apostle kept his arms crossed over his chest. "Well, I'd like to hear that."

"Lirio, mi amor," said Mii, coming forward and shooting a glare at Mazuma. "You remember the pictures from our trip to Paris, no?"

"Oh, these?" Lirio asked, reaching into one of the bags and pulling out a package.

"Si," Mii said absently, then did a double take. "Espera, qué?"

Lirio shrugged sheepishly. "I loaded them onto a flash drive and took them to get developed today. Sorry I didn't tell you, but I wanted it to be a surprise. So… surprise!" He spread his arms, smiling.

"Oh, mi amor…" Mii retracted her axe and kissed him deeply, to the chagrin of the other Apostles. "Gracias."

Meanwhile, Zaha was exchanging notes with Shizu.

"They asked me to get involved," she said with yet another careless shrug. "I refused."

Nafhe, Nafhe's chibis, and Mazuma all sweatdropped.

Zaha grunted. "As long as no one blew up the mother ship—_again_—I'm personally fine with whatever went down. Nafhe, time to get ready for dinner."

"You can't tell me what to—" Nafhe broke off, seeing Zaha's insistent glare. She followed him down the hallway, trailed by a line of chibis.

Shizu brushed a stray feather off of her sleeve. "I should start dinner. Please behave, Mazuma, or I'll be forced to file a death report." She smiled pleasantly at her boyfriend and headed towards the kitchen. Mazuma's mouth fell open.

Mii, who had finished her make-out session with Lirio, simply tapped him on the shoulder with a mischievous smile. "Eso lo dejo a usted," she said breezily, and she and Lirio disappeared into the hallway as well, his arm looped around her waist.

**A/N: **Wow. Capitals _and _italics. Mii must have really been mad.

Mii: Y estoy seguro que como diablos sigo!

Me: Mii?! What are you doing here?! These are the author's notes! And what in the _world _did you just say… -consults Google Translate- …never mind.

Mii: Aww, you wouldn't kick me out, cierto?

Me: No, as long as you stop speaking Spanish… it's giving me a headache. Plus I might have been staring at the computer screen for too long. Oh well, serves me right. By the way, I apologize to the Mazuma fans for giving him a hard time. But if he wasn't our comic relief, this wouldn't be a very funny fanfic, would it? That's what I thought. So anyway, what did you think? I better hear from you guys in the reviews!


	2. Microwave Dinners and Misery

**A/N: Of microwave dinners, and Shizu's cooking skills. Featuring two extra-special shouting matches with our very own Nafhe and Mazuma, and some insight into the world of chibis.**

**Oh, and a quick shout-out to my first reviewers, krikalano, HARZ X, and my friend The Black Maiden! You guys are the reason I keep on writing!**

"Dinnertime!"

Though a stampede would not be entirely accurate to detail the rush that followed, one might find the cliché term appropriate in this particular situation.

Zaha, as usual, sat at the head of the table. To his right, an empty seat stood, reserved for Shizu, who was placing her final touches on the meal. To his left, Nafhe slouched in her chair, flanked by two of her chibis, who were eyeing the plates hungrily. Mii and Lirio sat so close that they were practically on top of each other, another awkward situation the other Apostles didn't really need. Next to Shizu, Kali picked up his spoon and studied it, wondering how on Earth he was going to eat using this without cracking the plate. And at the end of the table, Mazuma tilted his chair back on two legs, folding his arms behind his head. It was a typical, relaxed dinner on the mother ship.

Shizu came by balancing three of the plates and swiped her foot under Mazuma's chair, causing him to plummet to the floor. "Oww! What was that for?"

"Don't lean back," said Shizu bluntly, putting plates in front of Zaha, Nafhe, and Lirio. "Those chairs are expensive."

Needless to say, everyone immediately sat up straight.

Shizu promptly returned with the rest of the plates, expertly swatting Nafhe's chibis away from the food. They buzzed and hummed disappointedly, wobbling their way back to their mistress. Tossing aside the hungry chibis as a regular dinnertime occurrence, the Apostles dug in right away, all hungry from scouting missions and training sessions and sewing pillows (it had to happen). Naturally, Mazuma was the first to speak up.

"Hey, Shiz, do we need to take a trip to the grocery store?"

Shizu looked up with her fork halfway to her mouth. "Don't call me Shiz. Why would we need to go to the store?"

Mazuma shrugged. "Hey, I know you love cooking, and I hate to see you have to use these frozen dinners." He stabbed his chicken breast with the knife and held it up for Shizu to see.

The whole room went quiet.

"I made this," said Shizu, almost silently.

Zaha sighed and shook his head. Nafhe's mouth fell open, and the chibis would have done the same, had they had mouths. Kali's eyes flashed defensively. Mii and Lirio paused mid-bite.

The next moment, Mazuma was clinging to Shizu's leg, and she was smirking as he begged for forgiveness. "I'm sorry, Shizu! I'm sorry! I didn't know! It was a harmless little joke! I'm really sorry! I swear I am! I didn't mean anything by it! I swear!"

"Get off me," Shizu requested, and Mazuma would have done so immediately, but Kali decided to do it for him, plucking his sister's boyfriend off as easily as flicking off a fly. Mazuma pulled away from Kali's grip and practically sprinted back to his seat. Nafhe giggled.

"_I _think it's great," the rabbit-eared Apostle said, making a huge show of taking a bite of her mashed potatoes.

"Little suck-up," Mazuma muttered.

"Coward," Nafhe retorted.

"Brat."

"Immature."

"Oh, _you're _one to talk!"

"Idiot!"

"Sadist!"

"No está mal," said Mii absently.

"Over-actor!" Nafhe shouted.

"Oh, you _didn't_."

"Oh, I _did._"

"Freak!"

"Single-minded!"

"Brat!"

"You already said that!"

"No I didn't!"

"Yes you did!"

"No I didn't!"

"Yes you did!"

"NO I DIDN'T!"

"YES YOU DID!"

"_NO—_"

"¡_SILENCIO_!" Mii howled. Nafhe and Mazuma clamped their mouths shut, shocked.

"Mii…" Lirio trailed off. His fiancée smiled sweetly at him and settled back in her chair, exchanging nods with Zaha and Shizu. "Alguien tiene que intervenir, no?"

Though the other Apostles had no idea what she was saying, Lirio smiled back. "Lo que me gusta de ti más," he replied back to Mii, and they locked lips once more.

"Not at the dinner table!" Nafhe yelped. Kali grunted in agreement.

…

"Another great meal, as always, Shizu," Zaha told the third Apostle.

Shizu waved off the praise. "It was my pleasure. Mazuma! Pass me that glass, will you?"

Her boyfriend passed her said glass, shrouded in gloom. As punishment for fighting, he and Nafhe had been put on clean-up duty, though the rabbit-eared girl had found a way out of it. She was coaching her chibis in the fine art of scrubbing, ignoring the very obvious fact that they would electrocute themselves. "One, two, three, done! Next one. One, two, three, done! Next one. One, two…"

Meanwhile, Kali, Zaha, Mii and Lirio had retired to the living room. Lirio was currently in possession of the remote and flipping through channels, lounging on the couch with Mii. Kali sat next to them, making a critical grunt whenever they stopped on a show. And Zaha had taken the armchair, reading a five-hundred-pound-novel titled _When They Bleed. _No one was particularly anxious to inquire the plot.

Shizu came in and settled herself next to Mii, dusting herself off.

"Qué estás hacienda aquí, Shizu?" the lavender-haired woman asked her. "I thought Mazuma and Nafhe needed supervision."

"Oh, don't worry," said Shizu, with her special brand of smile that made everyone want to get up and run far, far, away. "They'll learn their lesson in three… two… one…"

_BOOM!_

As one, all of the Apostles got up and rushed into the kitchen, except for Shizu, who remained in the living room with a smirk on her face. The walls were blackened with smoke, and every inch of pristine white counter was now an impossible opaque color. Nafhe's chibis lay, dazed, in every corner of the room, buzzing hesitantly as they recalibrated. And, standing petrified at the sink, covered from head to toe in ash, the whites of Nafhe and Mazuma's eyes were the only color that could be seen in the sea of black, though whether white could be considered a color was rather irrelevant. That is to say, nobody cared if white was considered a color or not, because it was just the author's annoying, out-of-character drabble and she should probably get back to the story before the readers kill her.

"What _happened _in here?" said Zaha, in that tone of voice you'd be hard-pressed to hear from him.

"Qué pasó aquí?" Mii echoed, though in a less obvious way.

"I dunno, ask the idiot who was handling the knives," Nafhe sniffed.

Mazuma steamed. "You were the one holding the banana when it exploded!"

"I was hungry! You can't blame that on me!"

"I wish you had eaten it before it exploded!"

"I wish you would digest a land mine!"

"I wish you would go and impale yourself on Shizu's sword!"

"As long as you clean up afterwards," came Shizu's voice from the living room.

"I wish you would throw yourself off of a cliff!"

"I wish you would—"

"¡_SILENCIO_!" Mii howled, for the second time that night. She opened her mouth to say something else and a rasp choked its way into the air. "Ay dios mio, you two are driving my voice away."

Lirio shot them a very un-Lirio-like death glare and put a hand on Mii's back, guiding her to the living room without a second glance at the destruction. Zaha, Nafhe, and Mazuma were left standing in the kitchen amongst the scorched equipment.

The oldest Apostle sighed and rubbed his temples. "Will you two ever learn to grow up?" And on that note, he strode back to the family room as well, leaving Mazuma and Nafhe speechless.

Mazuma was the first to speak up. "Well, that was hardly fair."

Nafhe held her hands up. "Hey, it wasn't my fault! You're the one who's been causing all the trouble lately."

"_Me?_ _ME?_ After everything you've done, you're blaming _me? _Who set off the explosion? Huh?"

"I didn't set it off, you know that!"

"Plus you're a little suck-up—"

"I am _not _a suck-up!"

"Look at you, denying everything—"

"Shut up already and do the world a bit of good!"

"Says the little Apostle with the big—"

"Kiiiids~"

They both turned around just in time to see the flat of Shizu's blade flying towards them.

**A/N: Ah, Mazuma and Nafhe. So young, so immature.**

**Ha. I'm one to talk.**

**Did you likey? Review and tell me so! If you do I might take a suggestion from you about a chapter and credit you in the next installment!**


	3. Party On! Part 1

**A/N: Aaaaaaand… we're back! Thank you to krikanalo, HARZ X, and The Black Maiden, my loyal reviewers!**

Needless to say, the mother ship was a mess.

Nafhe was snoring, swinging gently from the chandelier. Mii and Lirio were passed out on the couch, wrapped in each other's arms. Shizu was asleep on the armchair next to a platter of shrimp tails, one hand dangling over the arm where she held an unconscious Mazuma by the collar, tightly clenched even in her sleep. Kali stood motionless in the corner, his eyes closed, half-coated in ice and draped with a banner that said PARTY ANIMAL. And Zaha was nowhere to be seen, a factor that the Apostles would later come to appreciate but were currently completely oblivious to.

How did it come to this, you might ask? Unfortunately, this chaos is only the tip of the iceberg…

…

_That morning…_

"No."

"Please?"

"Absolutely not."

"_Please_?"

"Okay."

"Really?"

"No."

"Aw, come on!"

Shizu crossed her arms over her chest. Next to her, Kali did the same with a stubborn grunt. "Just because Zaha is investigating a disturbance in Nagasaki doesn't mean that we can throw some big huge party! My answer is no."

"Aw, come on," whined Mazuma, clinging to her arm. "Let's let loose and have a bit of fun, huh, Shiz? Break the rules for once."

"Yeah," Nafhe agreed, her rabbit ears twitching. "What's the harm? Zaha'll never find out. We'll just do a speed clean of everything before he gets here and bam, we've got an instant party in the mix!"

"The harm," said Shizu drily, "is your head rolling across the room when Zaha _does _find out."

"Buenos tardes… konichiwa…"

Mii stumbled into the room, leaning against Lirio. Her eyes were half-closed, and there were dark rings under her fiancé's eyes. "Alguien dice algo sobre las cabezas?"

The three bickering Apostles took a moment to gawk at their fellow aliens. "Lirio, you look terrible," remarked Mazuma. "What did you _do _last night, run three miles?"

Nafhe opened her mouth with a very mischievous look on her face, and she probably would have said something equally mischievous had Shizu not covered her mouth in a moment of ESP. "Never mind what they did last night. Why don't you two go back to sleep?"

"S'no use," Lirio slurred, reaching for a package of coffee on the counter. His hand missed and the beans scattered all over the floor, but he didn't seem to comprehend, instead slouching back to the couch where Mii had already collapsed. "We've tried already."

"Are you two intoxicated?" said Shizu skeptically, voicing what most everyone was thinking.

"Urrgh," Kali voiced.

"I know it's a matter of values," his sister replied, "but it's always a worthwhile question just in case."

"Por supesto que no," Mii mumbled. "Nunca lo haría…"

"Japanese, please, Mii," managed Nafhe over Shizu's hand.

Mii ignored her. "No podíamos ir a domir…"

"Or not," Nafhe mumbled.

"So, anyway… what we talking about?" asked Lirio, trying to blink the sleepiness out of his eyes.

"Gurrh," said Kali, shaking his head.

The couple glanced at each other, sharing a quick visual conversation at Kali's explanation. "Una fiesta?" Mii said skeptically. "Cuando se ha ido Zaha? Está seguro de que es una buena idea?"

"Japanese, _please, _Mii!" repeated Nafhe, but the lavender-haired woman seemed too tired to access her second language. (**A/N: I always envisioned Spanish as Mii's first language. Just a quick note.**)

"That's what I said," Shizu sighed.

"_Please_, Shizzy?" Mazuma wheedled. "We won't cause any trouble~"

"We swear!" Nafhe added.

The third Apostle was silent for a moment, then turned to her boyfriend with murder in her eyes. "_If you ever call me 'Shizzy' again…_"

"Eeep!" Both Mazuma and Nafhe let out a very uncharacteristic squeak, feeling the bruises on their foreheads throb simultaneously. The bruises were a result of bickering after the explosion in the kitchen, which they had been forced to clean up as well. Neither of them were anxious to tangle with Shizu again.

"I dunno," said Lirio thoughtfully (or as thoughtfully as he could be without sounding slightly tipsy). "Maybe we should celebrate for a while. Sounds kinda fun."

"You're delirious," Shizu told him straightforwardly. "Or crazy. Or both."

"Both," Nafhe agreed, miraculously with Shizu's hand still clamped over her mouth.

"Ugh," Kali chipped in.

Shizu shot him a look. "Whose side are you on, anyway?"

"Look," said Mazuma. "We can throw a quick party, have a little something to eat, maybe dance a bit, and clean up everything before it gets too crazy! You're practical about that stuff, aren't you? You can keep us on track." With every word, the red-haired Apostle poured praise and persuasion into his voice, trying to weaken Shizu's will.

She did look slightly conflicted. "I… well…"

"Bien podría tener una oportunidad," said Mii with a shrug, obviously still too tired to speak in a less confusing language for the benefit of the poor Apostles. "No estás de acuerdo, Lirio?"

Mii's fiancé seemed to agree. "Seems reasonable."

They all looked at Shizu.

Shizu looked at Kali, who shrugged his huge shoulders. "You're all… pretty serious about this idea of a party?"

Everyone nodded.

On instinct, one of Shizu's hands inched towards her sword. "I guess… maybe…"

They waited in silence.

"_Maybe… _just for a little while…"

"Yes!" Nafhe punched the air with her mechanical hands, barely missing Kali by a millimeter. Mazuma pecked Shizu on the cheek, to which she looked slightly less regretful about her decision. Mii gave a tiny, incomprehensible cry of joy and fell back onto the couch, closing her eyes. Lirio shot his celebrating comrades a look of apology and gently nudged his fiancée awake, guiding her back into the hallway, and, no doubt, the bedroom.

"I tell ya, they're up to something," said Nafhe, as soon as she managed to pry Shizu's hand from her mouth.

Mazuma stared at her. "Shiz just okay'ed a party, and that's _all _you have to say?"

Shizu groaned. "I'm getting a headache." She headed for the kitchen and her secret (not so much) stash of aspirin with Kali in tow, only stopping to mutter, "And _don't _call me Shiz."

"Ugh," said Kali with a fierce glare in Mazuma's direction, and followed her out of sight.

Once they were, Nafhe's eyes narrowed. "They're _definitely _up to something."

"Who?" said Mazuma absently.

"Mii and Lirio, you idiot!" Nafhe hissed. "Don't you pay attention at all?"

The red-haired Apostle's eyes had glazed over. "Shizu…"

He was promptly smacked by Nafhe's hand, which would have been minor had it not weighed about a hundred pounds. "_Listen! _I say we investigate."

"Uh-uh. No way." Mazuma's face turned bright red. "I'm not intervening in _anything _those two do."

"Oh _please, _I know my limits," the pink-haired girl said, rolling her eyes. "The point is, we're always the ones left in the dark! Well no more, I say! _It's time for Nafhe to take control of her own destiny!_"

"Why are you talking about yourself in the third person?" puzzled Mazuma.

"Shut up. Are you going to help me or not?"

"I guess… as long as we don't get _personal _or anything…"

The rabbit-eared Apostle beamed. "Great! So, listen, you know how there's the party tonight?"

"Yeah," said Mazuma hesitantly. "Why?"

"Listen closely," commanded Nafhe as she leaned closer. "Now, here's what we're going to do…"

**A/N: Muahahahaha! And thus Nafhe's master plan is introduced!**

**While I'm at it, I might as well thank all of my readers! TAMOL has now become my primary project, I can't believe it's gotten so popular already!**

**In the meantime, I shall stop being lazy and write more of my other fanfictions. DIE, WRITER'S BLOCK!**

… **I'm normal. Really.**


	4. Party On! Part 2

**A/N: My first two-parter! I'm really on a roll, aren't I? Let's keep it that way! A HUGE thank-you to all of my readers and reviewers so far who have been very loyal and encouraging!**

**Nafhe: And thanks to HARZ X for an idea starring ME!**

**Me: Nafhe? Hey, you're supposed to be in the story!**

**Nafhe: Sorry, I couldn't resist. So anyway, thanks for the awesome idea! Don't worry, I'll MAKE Mio write it~**

**Me: Hey! Nobody's going to make me write anything! Except for this next chapter… which I need to get started on! Enjoy, everyone!**

...

Shizu knew she shouldn't have let Nana get to the pineapple.

Then again, if she had _known _that the Grey clone would grow an addiction, she wouldn't have done it, would she?

To understand the root cause of this situation, the flashback-crazy author must take her probably very confused and irritated readers back into a flashback that occurred not a half an hour before the pineapple incident…

…

_A half an hour ago…_

"Ah, eso lo hace~!" Mii stood back and admired her handiwork. The hangar of the Apostles' mother ship had been completely transformed, littered with streamers, confetti, balloons, tables and cushions for snack time, and an entire music setup for your standard DJ-savvy alien.

Lirio came up behind his fiancée and slipped an arm around her waist. "It looks beautiful, Mii."

"Beautiful?" said Nafhe critically. She was perched on one of the buffet tables. "Are we throwing a dance party or a rich kid's eighth birthday bash?"

Mii threw her a poisonous glance. After a few hours of rest, she had vigorously thrown herself into the party planning, conjuring what she could with complicated-sounding spells (specializing in appetizers, plastic-ware, and noisemakers). The only catch was that Lirio's girlfriend was slightly irritated by her still-obvious lack of sleep and hated to be contradicted, choosing instead to slice at the offender with her thumbs-up axe. Therefore, no one was entirely anxious to give Mii the thumbs-down, though Nafhe _was _more impertinent than most.

"Hey, talk about party planner of the year!" Mazuma sauntered towards the group with Kali in tow, who had been busy carving some ice sculptures. "Go super-alien Mii!"

"Gracias, Mazuma," the young woman told him generously, with another pointed look at Nafhe. "Not too much?"

"Not at all," Mazuma reassured her. "We've all been hard at work, but I think you've been working the hardest of us all!"

"Says the guy who's been holed up in the screening room watching Westerns," muttered Nafhe, and shifted on her perch.

Mazuma opened his mouth to object, but spotted Shizu emerging from the hallway and decided it was a good time to shut up. "Hmm," she said critically, inspecting the setup as she walked over. "It's nice, but is it all cleanable before Zaha gets here?"

Mii crossed her arms. "No confías en mí, Shizu? Half of this will disappear with a snap of my fingers." She snapped them, just for effect. Thankfully, none of it disappeared.

Shizu nodded in approval. "Great. Now, we all now the rules? No alcohol, no dancing on tables, the rest of the ship is off-limits for party supplies, and only take what you're going to eat. No vaporizing leftovers, _Nafhe_."

The rabbit-eared Apostle shrugged. "Hey. Nobody ever told me to eat my greens, okay? So I figured it wasn't necessary."

"I still don't see how the alcohol ban is fair," Mazuma complained. "That thing with Gold Saw was _one time._"

Shizu scowled. "One time it may be. Let's not go for a second. And hey, we all remembered—no guests! This is an Apostles-exclusive event."

Her boyfriend shifted. "Oh… er… yeah. About that."

All of the Apostles looked at him. Shizu's voice dropped into the danger zone. "About what?"

"Um…" Poor Mazuma seemed at a loss for words. "There's something I need to…"

"_Par-tyyy!_" The main doors flew open, and in a flurry of movement, Black Gold Saw, Nana Grey, and White Rock Shooter spilled through, collapsing in a heap on the floor. Shizu stomped towards Mazuma with murder in her eyes, but Mii interrupted before the unfortunate death of the red-haired Apostle. "Gold Saw, Nana, White-san, good to see you." She cocked an eyebrow and tilted her hip. "Quién es la chica?"

Nafhe hopped off of the table, grinning. "Hey, Black Shooter-chan! Never thought I'd see the day you came around here!"

"Shooter…?" Shizu trailed off, her curiosity overwhelming her anger.

Gold Saw got to her feet, disappeared into the shadows, and appeared one second later with a girl who was almost a complete carbon copy of White Rock Shooter, if White Rock Shooter had been dipped in ink. "This is Black Rock Shooter," she announced, which was rather unnecessary. "Hope ya don't mind, we all wanted her to come around for the party."

"No problem," said Nafhe, still grinning. She slung an arm around the obviously uncomfortable Black, who was shifting from leg to leg in her black-and-white dress. "You look pretty cute! Nana get you to dress up or something?"

Nana, who had already greeted the other Apostles, smiled sheepishly. "I had to. She always wears that ratty old black coat."

Mii seemed raptured with White's opposite. "Bueno, no del estás adorable?" she cooed, twirling her finger in front of Black's eyes. "Come on, chica. Let me show you around." She looped her arm through Black's and dragged her off towards the music station. An impatient "_Lirio!_" came a few seconds later. Mii's fiancé dipped his head in apology to the guests and hurried off after his girlfriend.

Meanwhile, Gold Saw was sampling the appetizers. "This is great, Shiz!" she called to the third Apostle. "You make this?"

"Don't call me Shiz," Shizu growled.

Mazuma sidled up to her. "Hey, what's the problem? I'm sorry I invited them, but doesn't it make it that much more interesting?"

"Yeah, Shizu-chan." White materialized behind them. "What's wrong with a little party time before Zaha gets here? We won't do anything _bad._" She smiled at her friend and sauntered off towards Black, Lirio, and Mii.

At White's abrupt enter and exit, all Shizu could do was sigh and join Nana and Nafhe by the buffet. Mazuma rolled his eyes and immediately regretted it—he was developing a theory that his girlfriend had eyes in the back of her head.

So far, the results were not in his favor.

"So, Nafhe, you know Black?" asked Shizu, sampling the salami. She and the other Apostles—plus White, that was—had met Nana and Gold Saw when they first arrived on Earth. After a few deadly battles, they had bonded… mostly. "I've never seen her before."

Nafhe nodded. "Remember when I scouted out that United Center in Europe?"

Shizu nodded.

"I met up with Nana and Black there. Apparently Black was one of the human's toys, but was the only one left behind. Thank the gods she doesn't hold a grudge."

Nana cast a glance at Black's katana, hanging at her side. "She is a pretty good fighter. White's level, even."

"No kidding," mumbled Shizu, her mouth full of salami. "Never would have guessed. Looks exactly like her, though."

"I know, right?" agreed Nafhe. "God, Nana, how'd you get her into a dress?"

Nana smiled wickedly. "I have my ways." The two girls fell over laughing. Even Shizu smiled.

"Well, it's nice to meet her," she said. "Though I think bringing her here was a mistake."

"Why?" they asked in unison.

Shizu rolled her eyes in Black's direction. "Mii. She has this maternal instinct that can go a little overboard."

Nafhe snorted. "That's an understatement."

Nana picked up a piece of pineapple and examined it. "I'm sure she'll be fine. Black is pretty tolerant. She let me put her in that dress, after all."

She and Nafhe giggled again. Shizu sighed, the kind of cocky sigh a mature person would make, and glanced in Black's direction once again.

_Poor girl… I hope Mii takes it easy on her…_

…

"Strawberry punch, on the house!" Mazuma walked in with a platter of stem glasses, filled to the brim with the scarlet beverage. The Apostles and their guests crowded around, already fanning themselves due to the lack of air conditioning in the hangar. Nafhe and Nana fought their way to the front, then grabbed two glasses and ran back to the buffet. Kali reached over the crowd and took one for himself, then one for his sister. White reached for one on the edge, but was quickly stopped by Mazuma.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he said.

White frowned. "Why?"

Just then, Lirio found his way forward and took the very glass White had been eyeing. "There we go. Thanks for that, Mazuma."

"Excuse me!" said White, folding her arms. "Aren't I allowed to have my drink?"

Lirio grimaced at her. "Not this one. It's not exactly punch."

"What?"

Mii stumbled into her fiancé from behind, clutching Black's arm. She had turned a deathly white, and a tiny fang was peeking out from the corner of her lip.

"Please… one bite…" she begged to Black.

Black shook her head and tried to back away, but Mii's grip was too strong. Feebly, she reached for Black's neck, but practically fainted into Lirio's arms, almost spilling the glass.

White recoiled. "What the heck?"

"Her bloodlust," explained Lirio apologetically. "It's kicking in. I'm sorry, White-san."

White looked at the glass and suddenly felt very sick. "That's alright… I don't think I would have wanted it anyway."

"I tried to tell you," said Mazuma, somewhat tactlessly.

"Shut up," said the white-haired woman and Lirio as one.

Mii reached for the glass and downed it in one gulp, letting it slip to the floor with a crash when she was finished. "G-gracias, Lirio," she gasped, color returning to her face. "Gracias, Black…"

Black flinched. Apparently she was slightly unsettled by Mii's unseemly state… or Mii herself, which would not be entirely uncalled for.

"That's alright," Lirio reassured her. "Come on. Why don't we get you some more food? Black, you go and join Nana and Nafhe."

Black nodded and hurried away, looking all too happy. Mazuma smirked, taking the last glass from the platter and sipping it somewhat delicately.

"And so, the next scene begins…" he mused.

**A/N: A three-parter! No way! I should have figured I wouldn't be able to finish this in two chapters.**

**Oh well. I just love this arc. It's too good to be true. Or is it? Muahahaha!**

…

**Sorry, I'm really tired. I shouldn't be writing this late. Tell me what you thought in the reviews!**


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